Eurovision Song Contest 2016
|} The Eurovision Song Contest 2016 is the 61st edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It is currently taking place in the Ericsson Globe in Stockholm, Sweden, following Sweden's victory at the 2015 contest in Vienna with the song "Heroes", performed by Måns Zelmerlöw. This is the third time the contest has taken place in Stockholm, after 1975 and 2000, the latter also being held at the Globe. The contest consists of two semi-finals on 10 and 12 May and the final on 14 May 2016. The three live shows are hosted by Zelmerlöw and Petra Mede. The winner of the contest was the United Kingdom, which won with James Harrison's "Hallelujah", it is the sixth time they had won having previously been victorious in 1967, 1969, 1976, 1981 and 1997. It only the third time since 1997 that the UK had finished in the top five having done so in 2002 and 2009 and it was the first time in six years that they had scored 100 points. Forty-two countries participate in the contest. Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia and Ukraine will return after absences from recent contests, while Australia will also return after debuting as a special guest in 2015. Portugal withdrew, largely due to their national broadcaster's insufficient promotion of their music-based media, while Romania had originally planned to participate, but was forced to withdraw due to repeated non-payment of debts by their national broadcaster to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). The contest will also be the first to implement a new voting system since 1975, with each country now awarding two sets of points: one from their professional jury and another from televoting. Twenty-six countries will again compete in the final. After five attempts since their debut in 2007, the Czech Republic managed to qualify for the final for the first time. Bosnia and Herzegovina and Greece both failed to progress out of the semi-finals for the first time ever, the latter being absent from the final for the first time since 2000. It is also the first time since 1958 that only one Scandinavian country is present in the final, hosts Sweden. Location 'Venue' The contest will take place in the Ericsson Globe in Stockholm, following Sweden's victory at the 2015 contest in Vienna with the song "Heroes", performed by Måns Zelmerlöw. The Ericsson Globe has a capacity of approximately 16,000 attendees, and this will be the second time the contest has been staged at the venue, after 2000. Bidding Phase Host broadcaster Sveriges Television (SVT) announced on 24 May, the day after winning the 2015 contest, that the Tele2 Arena in Stockholm was their first choice venue. However, other cities and arenas were invited to apply, and those making a bid had approximately three weeks to submit their offer to SVT. SVT announced on 1 June the conditions under which cities and venues could announce their interest in hosting the contest: *SVT had to have access to the venue at least 4–6 weeks before the contest to build the stage and rig up lighting and technology. *A press centre with a specific size had to be made available at the venue. *A specific number of hotels and hotel rooms had to be made available in the vicinity of the venue. *The host city had to be near a major airport. An announcement regarding the venue was expected from SVT by midsummer, with the Ericsson Globe announced as the venue on 8 July. Results 'Final' ' Other Awards 'Marcel Bezençon Awards 'OGAE'